This May 11th, From Alaska to Florida, from Maine to Hawaii, to right here in Northwest North Carolina, letter carriers will do double duty– delivering mail and picking up food donations for organizations like Second Harvest.
“This is, by leaps and bounds, our biggest one-day food drive of the year,” says Joe Kilar, Food Drive Manager at Second Harvest. “It is astounding: the letter carriers use their routes and logistics to bring an amazing amount of food collected by the community back to the post offices, and volunteers and food bank staff quickly unload their trucks so they can continue their routes.”
“The drive comes at an important time of the year,” continues Kilar. “When school lets out, we see a huge increase in need as family budgets are stretched thin by the expenses of summer. Most significantly, children lose access to school meals and are at increased risk of food insecurity during these long months. Stamp Out Hunger comes at an ideal time as we restock our partner network for summer.”
Last year, this one-day food drive brought in over 86,000 pounds of food from the Winston-Salem community alone.
Participating couldn’t be easier: simply place a bag of healthy, non-perishable food by your mailbox on May 11th and your letter carrier will do the rest.
Don’t forget to leave out your bag!
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